Posts by Richard Wilson4

Douglas Sanchez5 said:Look, that statement doesn't really mean much on its own—not at all. I mean, just look back at what Zelenskyy and his advisors were saying right before the invasion, and then compare it to what they were saying once things actually started kicking off. They were basically telling everyone they thought the Russian troops weren't organized enough to pull off an attack, so why worry? Between the state of the media and the public polls about whether a war would even happen... it was a whole thing.

Before the invasion, the narrative was all about how Russia just wanted to bleed them economically dry, and they were even telling Americans to chill out with the "dangerous rhetoric" because it was supposedly hurting the economy. Not to mention the media landscape—everyone just seemed convinced a war wasn't coming, and the bottom line was that they didn't even start mass mobilization while the Russian military was literally gathering right on their doorstep.

I’ve been following this whole crisis-turned-catastrophe very closely—really deep-diving into it—and from everything I’ve seen, the Ukrainians really didn't see this attack coming. It's not that they didn't do *any* prep work, of course, but they just didn't think a full-scale military action was likely, nor did they think they'd have to make such massive concessions.

If they had mentally prepared the country for war back in November—you know, through mass mobilization, some media hype, getting people out there digging trenches or mining access roads, and describing the horrors of what was coming—maybe they could have pushed through a Minsk 2 deal. Or, hey, maybe those preparations would have sent a message that a shock attack and a three-day blitz to take the capital wouldn't just work.

I'm constantly running through different scenarios in my head, trying to figure out how this disaster could have been avoided—there were so many turning points! For instance, if the West had reacted way more aggressively toward Crimea, or looking back at Georgia in 2008, I honestly don't think this catastrophe would have happened. Or if Zelenskyy hadn't arrested Medvečuk and shut down that propaganda channel—which, by the way, totally killed Putin's belief that he could just install his own people at the top of the government. And if the Ukrainians had just agreed to Minsk 2...
Of course, Putin is the one responsible here. But I find myself constantly weighing the actions of the other players, too—taking into account who Putin is, the fact that he's a criminal ideologue, and the absolute shitty options they were left with.

The fact that the leader of Russia doesn't believe Ukrainians even exist as a distinct people has absolutely nothing to do with any specific moves made by Ukraine.

maminho said:The whole point for the US was to slap those sanctions on Russia just so they could flip their own oil and gas—which they basically swiped from all over the Middle East.

And the EU would’ve just kept buying Russian gas anyway.
Then the guy in Moscow thought he could just roll into Kyiv in three days flat.

Ronald Chavez2 said:When Americans bomb parts of the Middle East and trigger refugee crises that Europe ends up paying for and managing, can we honestly call that "cooperation," or is it just swallowing American policy whole? Shouldn't Europe focus on its own interests and stop acting like it needs to pick a master and swallow whoever's garbage—be it American, Russian, or anyone else's?

Look, when Germany plans to double down on their energy dependence on a specific country right after Russia militarily occupies and annexes another UN member's territory, are we really going to blame the Americans for that too?

It’s pretty obvious why he was doing those movies lately.
We're always gonna remember him as that ultimate action icon and total badass.

Wishing him nothing but Good health.

Amanda Allen4 said:It is high time the EU finally grew some backbone and started looking out for its own interests instead of just hiding behind the apron strings of America!

Honestly, Germany is the one really pulling the strings when it comes to everything Russia has been up to since 2008, especially after 2014.

Honestly, what did you guys expect?

Did you really think the Russia-lovers would finally admit that Russia’s economy is basically a joke, about the size of Spain's?

Or that they're totally dependent on selling energy to the West just to stay afloat?

Or that their military is actually a paper tiger that can't even crack Ukraine, instead of being this unstoppable force that's supposedly gonna hit the Atlantic Ocean in two days?

Drew Booth60 said:The Russian ruble is sitting at 87 against the US dollar—honestly, we’re basically looking at levels we haven't seen since before the invasion started. Some of the analysts over on the finance forums are already predicting a total Venezuelan-style collapse once the New York Stock Exchange opens in Moscow 🙏

I’m really curious to see if anyone actually bites on March 31st regarding those gas payments in rubles. I mean, cutting off the gas supply doesn't benefit Europe or Russia, so it’s going to be a wild ride regardless of how this plays out 😁

You really think that exchange rate is legit?

So, is the deadline to pay up in rubles set for March 31st?

Justin Kern67 said:It’s quite amusing to watch Biden lecture China on behalf of the entire European Union: "Biden said he had made clear to Chinese President xi Jinping that He would be putting his economic relations with The US and EU in “significant jeopardy” if he were to help Russia" : https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60856533

There is absolutely no reason to doubt that once a serious conflict breaks out, they will find themselves defending Europe—and doing so right there on European soil.

Without America, after WW2, you'd have seen the Frenchmen, Italians, and Dutchmen getting a front-row seat to the perks of real socialism and brotherhood with Moscow.

Bryan Booth82 said:German ZDF is reporting that there's been an agreement reached at the EU level to stop all gas payments in rubles.👍👍

Now, let's wait and see if that absolute scumbag actually follows through by halting those daily transfers of 200 million euros.🤔

LP i

So the Canadians are on board too?

Carl Lee27 said:Zelensky at the NATO summit—we’re looking for unlimited support
Americans and the public—anti-ship missiles for Ukraine?

This would be huge for defending Odessa.

slyfox43 said:If—and that is a massive if—they ever manage to pivot their entire identity from "us versus the world" to "we are just one part of the world," accepting that they aren't inherently special or entitled to unique geopolitical favors, then they won't have to beg for an invitation back to the table.

Back in the '90s, we didn't see that happening. There was a movement, sure, but it was really just a thin veneer wrapped around the same old imperialistic Russia we've always known.

The 90s were also defined by things like Abkhazia, Ossetia, and keeping up support for Transnistria.

In Abkhazia, Russians helped carry out ethnic cleansing against Georgians.

Michael Ortiz68 said:Why would you want to ban them? Looking at various articles, most of these are educated young people with families who simply don't want to live under these conditions in Russia.

And right now, most of them are targeting countries with significant Russian minorities, like Georgia or Finland.

The West stands to benefit solely from having educated, more liberal Russians around. Someone posted a link earlier noting that after the USSR collapsed, there were about 900,000 scientists in Russia. Today, that number has dropped to roughly 350,000. I highly doubt they all moved to Africa to find work.

Europe and the USA could pick up the scientific elite from Russia and Ukraine, not to mention filling labor shortages in other sectors where the West is currently lacking workers.

Georgia has the most relaxed visa rules.

This YouTuber has been there for a few days now.

Carl Lee27 said:So, I’ve been seeing some chatter about Congress potentially looking into banning the US government from doing business with any companies that refuse to pull their operations out of Russia. I say "potentially" because, honestly, right now I'm mostly just seeing a handful of people talking about this on Twitter

Edit: Okay, scratch that—looks like this is actually legitimate news
https://oversight.house.gov/news/pre...overnment-from

This would put Nestlé in a super tough spot, but it’s also a direct threat to China.

hollowdriver13 said:I caught this statement from the German side, and honestly, it looks like the situation within the US Armed Forces is so pathetic that they basically have nothing left to send to Ukraine without leaving themselves totally naked.🤦
It's pretty obvious they took a few pointers from Russia on how to "manage" military inventory.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the bottom line is that Germany needs to stop actively sabotaging Ukraine.

None of them are actually looking for help, and honestly, nobody truly believes they’re on Ukraine's side anyway.

Carl Lee27 said:I remember seeing this incredibly insightful post by Sam Alvarez4 right after I commented that out of those 2,700 units, we’d probably end up with just a few hundred functional Arrows actually arriving from Germany. Sadly, it got taken down.
Regarding that point, Germany has barely managed to deliver even 500 Arrows so far.

https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/...n-Ukraine.html

Look, when it comes to the Germans, the main thing is making sure they don't sabotage Ukraine or anyone trying to step up and help them.

Carl Lee27 said:Honestly, Russians and Chinese people are just incredibly cunning operators; I wouldn't be shocked one bit if this whole thing is just a massive performance staged for the rest of the world, while they’re actually shaking hands under the table and cooperating way more than they’d ever let anyone realize.

I already touched on this in another thread.

China doesn't want to see Russia tank, but they definitely aren't planning on going down with the ship either.

The Russian economy is basically falling apart, and their big claim to fame—that supposedly massive military power—has turned out to be a total paper tiger.

Outside of Belarus, the Assad regime, and a handful of small states, they don't have any real pull left on the global stage.

China does. And they aren't stupid enough to risk messing that up.

Gerald Chavez7 said:If you take Poland and Ukraine together, you’re looking at roughly 80 million people—add in the Baltic states, and you’ve got about 85 million. Meanwhile, Russia sits at around 145 million. Aside from the nuclear arsenal, that’s pretty much the whole story. Putin actually managed to build himself a regional powerhouse just west of Moscow. A masterclass in 4D chess, really. 🤦

Piłsudski had a dream like that, trying to create a real counterweight to the Germans and the Russians.
Too bad he couldn't pull it off back then.

Frank4 said:The USA just fell apart without any major wars, nothing like what we saw over in our neck of the woods back home...
Boris Yeltsin was the one who broke up the USA...

But there were conflicts in Georgia, Moldova, Armenia vs Azerbaijan, and Chechnya had two wars...

hollowdriver13 said:https://www.reuters.com/world/russia...te-2022-03-14/

So, they just kicked Russia out of the international ship certification association. It’s going to be pretty wild seeing how they plan on getting oil delivered to tankers now.

If I'm reading this right, they're basically stripping Russian ships of their ability to even move anything...

Super brutal move. But looking at what's happening over in Ukraine, hopefully, this actually helps wrap the war up.